Eastern Update

Updated April 13, 1999 12:01 a.m. ET

CHANGE OF PLANS: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reassesses its strategy in the former Communist bloc.

The bank, which is the largest single investor in the region and accounts for some 10% of foreign direct investment, cites slower-than-expected economic reform and risks generated by Russia's financial meltdown. "We have to be aware that transition is a much longer process than we had thought it to be," says EBRD President Horst Koehler. He says the bank has underestimated the importance of...